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Terms for Food are Generally Misleading

Especially with meats, terms we think of as good, aren’t usually what we would think. Legal terms for packaging foods can be very open ended or not regulated at all.

A good example of misleading language used in marketing is the term free range. We would be lead to believe that instead of being kept in a small cage it’s entire life, they have fields to roam. This only means they have room to walk several feet. It is better, but it’s now what one would think with a label that says free range.

Light with items like sodium or fat only means 25% than a median of competitors. Almost no items that say zero calories have non. It means 5 calories or less a serving.

Lightly sweetened or breaded has no legal definition whatsoever. Natural also has no legal meaning.

Labeling genetically modified foods is a big debate here in Oregon. A lot of company’s don’t want the bill to pass, because it’ll cost a bit more to label. The biggest reason is the fear of people not eating the same after food is more accurately labeled.

Be careful wen buying food, what the label says isn’t always what it would lead you to believe. I encourage you to do further research on food labeling and what it means. I think it’s important to hold company’s accountable to not mislead consumes.